Members of the San Francisco 49ers kneel during the playing of the national anthem before an NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

The San Francisco 49ers lost their game today 26-23 against their hosts the Indianapolis Colts and are now 0-5 in this 2017-18 NFL season. Maybe they should stand up for the National Anthem and maybe their luck will change. So far this season at the end of week #5 they have taken a knee and their fans have taken a nap. I have said before how I feel about the taking of the knee. I respect their rights to protest under the First Amendment, but disagree with that action. There is enough politics today as it is, fans pay good money to see football because they want to escape the real world. The National Anthem and the Flag are symbols of the country as a whole, not symbols of a cause, a specific person or group or any political party. They have been symbols that identify all of us, way way before Football was even invented. Football was invented in the 1880’s.

The NFL was founded in Canton, Ohio in 1920. The Star Spangled Banner was written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key. The American flag was sewed by Betsy Ross in 1776.

As Americans, the Anthem and the Flag should be something that unite all of us, millions have died defending those symbols for over 200 years. NFL Football is a game played by around 1,600 athletes in 32 teams, in a country of 330 million people.The least they can do is pay respect to these national symbols that allowed them to live in this country, and to all who made the ultimate sacrifice to give them the rights that allowed them to do such things. We are a unique country, if you were born outside the United States of America, chances are that the country you were born doesn’t gives you the freedom to disrespect the Anthem and Flag, in many countries today that is enough cause to “take you away”. Thank God the US is not like that, we all enjoy the freedoms, and nobody is holding us hostage in this country.

If you disagree with me, that would be fine, I respect your right to do so, and I hope that you do likewise with me.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com